His eyes opened wide. His eyebrows shot up. Then an amused Nicolas Batum flashed an are-you-kidding-me gaze.

Does Damian Lillard look better than he did last season?

“Wheeeeeeeeeeooo,” Batum responded, allowing his whistle to drag on for a few seconds. “He’s way different than last year. Way better. He wants to be the best point guard in the league, and he’s doing what he needs to do to be the best point guard in the league.”

If you thought Lillard was sensational last season, when he became just the fourth player in NBA history to earn unanimous Rookie of Year honors, if you thought he’d enter his second season content with that instant success, just wait until Wednesday, when the Trail Blazers open the regular season against the Phoenix Suns.

Lillard enters 2013-14 as hungry and humble as ever. The franchise that has been chasing a building block point guard for what seems like an eternity finally possesses a bankable, bona fide star at the NBA’s toughest and deepest position, and — both on and off the court — Lillard seems poised to enter the next level of superstardom.

The “Damian Lillard Brand,” which already is thriving as part of high-profile commercials, successful video games and grassroots social media marketing, is in the burgeoning stages of blowing up. And if Lillard has his way, he won’t simply be one of the NBA’s best players, but also a rapper, actor and entrepreneur.

Season opener: Portland at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Wednesday (TV on KGW, radio on KPOJ 620)

“I want to be in movies, I want to rap, I want to do everything,” Lillard said. “And I know it’s all possible because I can do it off the brand Damian Lillard, you know what I’m saying? I think it’s important for me to take every idea that I come up with and everything I want to do and put it out there right now, while I’m relevant as an NBA player. I can do these other things off the fact that I’m an NBA player.”

But first things first.

“I’m focused on the Trail Blazers right now,” he said. “I’m focused on wining games and getting to the playoffs.”

• • •

It would be a mistake to misinterpret Lillard’s ambition for ego. Or to confuse his drive as a detraction from basketball. Like any wide-eyed 23-year-old, Lillard has dreams, and they extend beyond the hardwood. That said, his passion is sharply focused on his job.

And as Batum intimated with that whistle, Lillard is better and badder at his job than he was last season, when he was pretty darn good.

Coaches and teammates have raved about his defensive improvement and attention to detail during his second training camp. He’s always been a wizard at navigating the pick-and-roll, but his ability to read defenses and pinpoint their weaknesses has grown exponentially after spending a season learning the ins and outs of the NBA.

Lillard’s demeanor and personality remain the same — composed, quiet, confident — but his urge to improve and lead the Blazers to new heights has been animated. Batum said Lillard has been noticeably more vocal in workouts and games, and Stotts said it’s been impossible to get his point guard to take “a possession off in practice,” let alone sit out an exhibition game. His individual statistics (19.0 points, 6.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 185 made three-pointers) were ludicrous last season, when he drew comparisons to Allen Iverson, Oscar Robertson and LeBron James.

But the numbers that stood out most to Lillard were these: 33, 49 and zero — the Blazers’ wins, losses and playoff appearances.

“I know I’ve said I want to be an All-Star,” Lillard said. “And that’s true. I do. But the success of the team is the most important thing all the time. That’s my number one focus. Winning takes care of those types of things.”

Since the Blazers’ final regular-season game last season, a 99-88 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Lillard has spent six long months allowing the aforementioned numbers — both good and bad — to fester in his head. It prompted him to ramp up his already-maniacal summer workout regimen with Oakland-based trainer Anthony Eggleton. It persuaded him to pour into video to search for weaknesses in his game and improve his defense. It motivated him to move past his rookie success.

All the while, as he trained with the same inner circle of people he worked with the previous summer, a funny thing happened. Lillard grew scared. Scared that he wouldn’t improve. Scared that he couldn’t evolve. Scared that every other point guard in the NBA was getting better than him. So he lifted more, trained harder, watched more video.

“It was just one year and all I did was win Rookie of the Year,” he said. “I want more. The best players, they come back with something new and they’re better and they keep wanting more. I haven’t played in the playoffs, I haven’t played in an All-Star game.

"There’s a lot of stuff you can do in the NBA and I’ve only done one thing. And that was the biggest thing for me. I was Rookie of the Year and I had a good year individually, but it was like, I was scared I wouldn’t be better this season. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just something that’s inside of me. But that bothered me, so I was like, ‘I’ve got to be in better shape. I’ve got to push myself.’ ”

As his star rose, as his ambitions grew, Lillard kept himself grounded by using a simple formula: Maintain this die-hard work ethic, keep the same tight-knit inner circle of friends and family, stay humble. And if it seems disingenuous to believe a man who talks about playing in All-Star games and developing rap and acting careers can truly remain humble, Lillard says it’s the first two components of the aforementioned formula that help facilitate the latter.

He still lives in the Portland suburbs with his mother, Gina Johnson, his brother, Houston, his sister, Lanae, his best friend, Phillip Taylor, and his nephew, Houston. He doesn’t have an entourage of yes-men walking around, catering to him, filling his head with praise. When he leaves the bright lights of the Moda Center for the comforts of home, he might as well be stepping back in time to his childhood.

“It’s not like they bow down to me,” Lillard said of his family. “If I leave something on the table, they’re not going to go pick it up. My mom will say, ‘Who left this on the table?’ And my best friend, he’ll by like, ‘Dame left that.’ He won’t just pick it up. And if she says, ‘Go take out the trash, and there’s two or three bags, he’ll be like, ‘Come grab this bag.’ He won’t be like, ‘Can you?’ He’ll be like, ‘Grab it.’ It’s just how it is, how it always has been.

“I don’t know any other way. I think the people around me … they treat me the same. When you’ve got the same people around you, when there’s no people telling you you’re more than what you are, it’s easy to stay humble.”

• • •

In the end, it’s his hard work and humility, in addition to continued NBA success, that will help Lillard achieve his assorted off-the-court ambitions. And the benefits of his early NBA success already are paying dividends. When Lillard wasn’t working on his game in the offseason, he was sharpening his brand.

He’s been featured in national commercial campaigns for the NBA and Adidas. He’s made appearances on Black Entertainment Television and TNT’s popular show, “Inside the NBA.” He was even one of six NBA players selected to be a featured part of the newest incarnation of the popular video game series NBA Live, affording him greater involvement in the game’s marketing and development.

And none of that includes his community involvement (Lillard was the face of the “Respect (Pass it On)" anti-bullying campaign and a national ambassador for the Special Olympics) or his international reach (he traveled to Italy and China for separate NBA and Adidas events).

“He had a very productive summer,” Eric Goodwin, Lillard’s agent, said. “What people see with Damian is that he’s a real guy who plays hard and remains hungry and humble. He’s marketable because he produces. He always says he’s not afraid to play, not afraid to produce. And he’s delivered.”

Fittingly, for someone who grew up in gritty, inner-city Oakland, Lillard’s commercial success doesn’t just come through mainstream avenues, but also through grassroots efforts. Like most in the NBA, he’s an avid Twitter and Instagram user. But unlike most in the NBA, he has his eye on using social media for commercial gain.

His most successful creation features a mix of his entrepreneurial ambitions and his love of rap. Shortly before his July trip to China with Adidas, Lillard had an idea to create an avenue for budding rappers to showcase their skills. He wanted to take Instagram’s new 15-second video feature and transform it into a freestyle venue for aspiring rappers. He figured 15 seconds was just enough time for artists to “spit” four “bars” of rap, so he decided to host a weekly contest, asking for original submissions and highlighting his favorites every Friday.

In its first six weeks, #4BarFriday had more than 2,500 followers on Instagram and drew almost 1,500 video submissions from fans, rappers and NBA players. If it grows like Lillard hopes, his platform could be turned into a money-making app or a live summer competition or even be partnered with a major record label. Lillard could help discover the next rap star.

And if that star happens to be Lillard, well, all the better.

“I’ve been writing since I was in the ninth grade,” he said, before revealing that he’s created two complete rap mixtapes with friends. “I like metaphors. I like putting words together.”

But Lillard has grown tired of the “catchy hooks” that dominate rap these days, and he’d like to create his own raw, heartfelt songs in the vein of his favorite artists like Nas, J. Cole, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar.

“I like people that can put them words together and can really spit,” Lillard said.

But at the moment, that’s part of Lillard’s distant future. All the talk about rapping and acting and building a brand is secondary to building an All-Star career and being a part of a playoff team. Lillard may be the reigning Rookie of the Year, but that’s only the beginning.

“He feels like he has to prove himself,” Goodwin said. “He has the mindset, ‘I’ve only proved one thing: that I belong. Now I have to prove that I’m one of the best.’ ”